Relishing Harlequin

I enjoy the hunt for Homer all year long, but one of the best places to add a hard-to-fine piece to a collection is at the Show and Sale portion of the HLCCA conference. This year I was thrilled to add a Harlequin relish tray to my holdings of the conical dinnerware designed for Woolworths.





I bought a great Mexican-themed vintage tablecloth from a fellow collector that showcases the tray nicely between four palm trees!



The placesettings feature a mix of yellow vintage and green reissue Harlequin resting on post-86 Fiesta dinnerware plates in sapphire and cinnabar.





The flatware is a no-name Oneida pattern in a wave design. The vintage cocktail napkins are rolled inside Pier One wooden bead napkin rings. The Fizz glassware from Crate and Barrel was part of our wedding registry 8 years ago.







Harlequin individual creamers and vintage "Sleeping Mexican" salt and pepper shakers accents the tray. A small wooden scoop turns the Harlequin nut dish into a salt cellar.





I think this table is ready for your dining pleasure on this Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch!

Tabletop Time Number Nine

Thanks for your interest in the tablescape contest. My entry was Number 9, Deco Dishes Sur La Mer. Making a single placesetting is rather different from doing a whole tablescape. I'm excited to do the full setting for four!

At the conference~





On the table~















This table features post-86 Fiesta dinnerware in sapphire and peacock with Hall shell plates, Mexican glass, chartreuse Fiesta demitasse cups and saucers, vintage blue Bakelite flatware, Oneida Cityscape demitasse spoons, contemporary seahorse salt and pepper shakers, Crate & Barrel candle holders and napkin rings and a FABULOUS vintage Ken Scott for Leacock Bouillabaisse tablecloth and napkins.

The winner of the contest was the amazing number 14, a tribute to the mixed color vintage Fiesta table also known as the Exploded Clown! Congratulations, Elaine!



The sixteenth table was a special treat for the son of a fellow collector. He's a tractor fan, and the flatware inspired him to provide a wonderful soundtrack of tractor sounds for our competition!



I hope you enjoyed this replay of a wonderful conference activity! Thanks for stopping by.

Fifteen Tables!

What a wonderful time we had at the 2010 conference of the Homer Laughlin China Collector's Association! This year's gathering added a new event, the First Annual Tablescape Competition. For this 'scape-off, each entrant prepared a placesetting featuring Homer Laughlin dishes to fit into an 18x18 inch space. Here are the entries~

































Can you guess which entry won? Can you guess which is mine? If you were at the conference, SHHHHH! Don't tell :). Please let the other guests at the table have a guess.

If there is enough interest, I'll explain why there is a 16th setting and show you a full table with my placesetting. Please let me know in your replies if you are curious about these two things...

I think these tables are a wonderful Tabletop Time to share for the 100th Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch. Congratulations Susan! And congratulations to the winner of the Tablescape Competition!

P.S. For the answers to the questions, please visit this entry.

http://tabletoptime.blogspot.com/2010/07/tabletop-time-number-nine.html

Stripes, Florals and Fruits!

Tablescaping is rewarding in so many ways. I love having color in our lives everyday. Each meal is made special, and the table is a welcoming setting for the time spent together. The items I use in the 'scapes also have special meaning, since I find many of them on my travels or receive them as gifts. This week's vintage 1947 Wiledur Rosemead tablecloth designed by John Madsen is a souvenir from my trip to Georgia in June for a family reunion. The Swanky Swig glasses are a gift from my friend Kathy when she and her husband visited Boston. They look made to go with this cloth, don't they?











This tablecloth also inspires me to get out some older items from my collection, some Fiesta dinnerware luncheon plates with sunflower and cobalt stripes that were part of a restaurant line for either Howard Johnson or Chili's around 1993. I found these at Brimfield a few years ago.

The bowls are a new addition from Homer Laughlin's Diner bistro line. The shape looks great with Fiesta!







I brought in some Libbey stripe glassware and vintage Onedia Deauville flatware as well.



This cloth also has a few fruits scattered among the stripes and florals.





I hope you're enjoying this primary-toned cousin of last week's red, white and blue cloth. I started working with this tablesetting at night, but I think I like it better as a breakfast table.





The large striped glasses are replaced by coffee mugs. The coffee server, creamer, sugar, sugar shell and vintage chicken egg cups join the setting. Anyone whose ever worked with a Post-86 coffee server knows why I put the large scarlet oval platter on the table...these pots are cute, but they dribble badly!





Which do you prefer, supper by candlelight or breakfast with stripes, florals and fruit?

Fizz declared neither by jumping into this frame and trying to paw the camera! He was ready for me to play with him and not the dishes!



This week I'm off to the conference of the Homer Laughlin China Collector's Association. I'll be seeing many of you there. For those who can't make it, watch this space for a report on the tablescape competition!

Thanks for stopping by!